BNY Mellon plans to launch digital asset custody platform later this year

The investment bank reportedly said it will begin with the United States and then expand worldwide based on market demand.

BNY Mellon, a major investment bank, is developing a digital asset custody platform that will allow institutional customers to gain crypto exposure.

According to a report from City A.M., customers will be able to store the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), in BNY Mellon crypto wallets, which will be powered by Fireblocks technology. However, once regulatory approval has been granted, the service will gradually increase and integrate a variety of tokenized traditional and digital assets.

The new service, according to the investment bank, is expected to be offered later this year. BNY Mellon also suggested it will be “the first to enter” the global digital custody market.

According to the report, Mellon intends to begin with the United States before expanding worldwide based on demand. After the American debut, BNY Mellon head of digital asset custody Talia Klein predicts that the service might extend to the United Kingdom:

“I think what we’re seeing in the UK is that there’s a really vibrant and active digital assets market here.” 

Related: BNY Mellon joins State Street to service new crypto exchange

In February last year, the bank initially revealed its intentions to store, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an asset manager on behalf of its clients. BNY Mellon announced a collaboration with Grayscale Investments in July 2021 to provide a range of services for its flagship Bitcoin investment product.

Remember that crypto is capable of exponential price moves is a very short amount of time. Add institutional adoption and network affects to BTC and there is a real possibility that a strong move to the upside can happen at anytime. #btc #eth #sol #Crypto

— The Meditative Mind (@aussieg7) February 22, 2022

As reported by Cointelegraph, BNY Mellon recently partnered up with Chainalysis, a blockchain data and analysis firm, to utilize Chainalysis compliance software within its risk management system.